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The Creative Quest

Bravery. The word conjures images of knights in shining armor riding out on a quest. We dramatized just that kind of bravery at this summer’s “Legend Makers” Creativity Camp. But as I watched our campers, I witnessed another kind of bravery as well. It’s an expression of bravery I see at Bona Terra, at SafePlace, at our Young Writers and our Young Artists Clubs, and when we come to Mary Lee Daybreak. It takes courage to extend ourselves creatively. In essence we’re saying, “Here’s my soul. What do you think of it?”

To create is to don shining armor and to ride out on a quest. There’s no telling what we’ll encounter along the way, no way to predict where the journey will take us. We may end up discovering that Holy Grail we set out to create is not what we’re seeking at all. But along the way we’ll get to know ourselves better. And although it may seem at times that we’re questing alone, if our quest it true, we are always accompanied by something Great and Good. Always. We’re also accompanied by those creating alongside us and by those who set out on their creating quest centuries prior to our journey as well as by those our courage will one day inspire.

Our nonprofit, A Spacious Place, seeks to provide provisions for the creative quest. We give questors what they need so that they can discover just how brave they’re capable of being. We now have scientific proof: everyone is creative. A Spacious Place takes that a step further: we believe everyone NEEDS to create: we need to stretch, to risk, to let the creative quest reveal our potential. When adults tell me they are not creative, there’s a wistfulness in their voices. What they’ve been told is “adult” or “responsible” is banning them from the quest. Let’s ignore the voices that would keep us from our adventure. Instead, let’s don our shining armor, mount our trusty steed, and set off on our creative quest!